Bitterly regret moving to BT broadband

How can I get out of this 18 month contract?

During the 10 day stabilisation period, my sync speeds gradually increased to around 5300 kbps with download speeds around 4600. Now the period is over, download speeds have slowed to a crawl. In fact it's almost impossible to get on to any speed checker site, but managed one this morning which showed 0.30 kbsec.

When I was with zen I had a more or less continuous sync speed or around 4800 kbps, with download speeds of around 4000, with these sort of line stats:

VPI/VCI: 0/38
Type: PPPoA
Modulation: G.992.3 Annex A
Latency type: Fast
Noise margin (Down/Up): 6.1 dB / 6.7 dB
Line attenuation (Down/Up): 50.0 dB / 29.9 dB
Output power (Down/Up): 0.0 dBm / 12.6 dBm
FEC Events (Down/Up): 0 / 0
CRC Events (Down/Up): 16298 / 3

I'll try another router later and possibly another BT socket faceplate. Telephone support is farcical, with them ultimately saying I should wait for 28 days before the connection is stable.

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Nov-11 13:32:55)

Without actual connection speeds it is hard to judge those stats.

A sync of 4 to 5Meg should be feasible at 50dB attenuation, and no sign your noise margin has been forced up.

Question is this. Is the sync ok, and the problem is actually just throughput, i.e. nothing to do with the ADSL2 part of the line.

Are you outside the "cooling off" period? if not then tell them that you are unhappy with the adsl service and want to move to another supplier
If that period has elapsed already then best start the ball rolling if you are getting no where with their technical support, log all communication between you and them, dates times names of who you have spoken too, ect, if the tech support route is useless , then make a complaint a formal complaint in witting via the post (to sign for)
should that also fail ,then you could E-mail their ceo or register your complaint with their ADR service but i think `12 weeks have to past before they can do anything for you, options from there are request letter of deadlock upon receipt of it , they may tell the isp to pay you some compensation, and basically let you leave penalty free by waving the rest of the contract term

They sync has deteriorated. Before I left for work today was down to about 1900 kbps, with Zen it was a more or less constant 4800, when I first migrated to BT the sync went up and held at a stable 5300. I did have a couple of slow-downs followed by a disconnect, as warned in the BT blurb.

Throughput is through the floor. Web pages barely load. Speed test sites don't load at all now, but the one I did manage to use gave a download speed of 0.30mbps

Am at work now so can't give any further detailed stats at the moment

Presume Zen was an up to 8Meg only ADSL product?

You are now on ADSL2+ and modem is using ADSL2 mode. Also which modem are you using the HH3? Some people find using a different one can help, i.e. it is possible line always was a little unstable, but previous modem masked this nicely for you.

I moved to BT August 2010 and got out of the contact the following January after them failing to get me above 0.5Mb when TT had got me over 1Mb for 4 years. I complained at least twice a week and when they insisted on an engineer calling to my address for a third time I told them that I would not be available Monday to Saturday for at least 3 months due to work ing schedule which was true. I was greeted with a response of thats your problem. I asked for the contract to be terminated with no early penalty and they agreed. I received my MAC within a week and an email stating no early penalties. They did send me a £43 bill for the home hub but as I was never asked to return it they wrote that off also.

Now with ADSL24 and couldn't be happier

Did have a BT engineer booked to the house today due to issues with my upload so arranged to have the morning off work. They didnt show and by the time it was confirmed they were not showing it was too late to go to work I ended up having to take the day off.

Thanks a bunch BT

Did have a BT engineer booked to the house today due to issues with my upload so arranged to have the morning off work. They didnt show and by the time it was confirmed they were not showing it was too late to go to work I ended up having to take the day off.

Thanks a bunch BT

Then send them an invoice to cover your financial loss. Don't be silly about it and be fair but firm. They will eventually pay up -- probably as a "goodwill gesture".

Whilst in calm and collected mode, you might as well let the "main man" (Ian Livingston) know about this issue. (Using the words of that Tesco slogan "Every Little Helps".)

The zen product was up to 20 meg ADSL2+, but the speeds were just under 5 meg due to line length from the exchange.

I am using the HH3 but will try another modem tonight. I used to use a Netgear router and will try one of these when I get in.

Regardless of the sync rate, I can't think what's reducing the throughput to next to nothing

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Nov-11 17:34:14)

How long is the cooling off period? Is that so many days after placing the order or so many days after receiving the service? I was migrated on 10th Nov

I thought the tech support was getting a bit dodgy when he asked if I had access to a screw driver to unscrew the BT face plate, Maybe that's what they normally ask people

Thanks I hadn't really thought of that. I am just waiting for ADSL24 to come back to me as they are chasing BT as to why there was a no show and once that bit is resolved I will email I an Livingstone

No invoice to generate as I am a govt emplyee so hopefully it will come down to a goodwill gesture

Thanks for the advice and will keep you posted on BT's stand on this

Regardless of the sync rate, I can't think what's reducing the throughput to next to nothing

Surely a varying sync rate would give you a low IP profile, and that equates to low throughput.

In reply to a post by Aliturk:

How long is the cooling off period? Is that so many days after placing the order or so many days after receiving the service? I was migrated on 10th Nov

That info should be in the T &C's And with any welcome e-mail or mail from them ,

In reference to www.productsandservices.bt.com/consumerOrders/control/termsandcondi...:

Cancelling the Agreement
The Broadband speed that we quote when you order the service is an estimate only. Once your Broadband speed has settled (usually 10 days after provision), if you are always getting speeds lower than the estimated range that we quoted, you can contact us any time within the first 3 months after you ordered the service and we will try to improve the speed. If, despite any improvements we try to make, the speed you get is less than the "minimum guaranteed access line speed" for your service (go to www.bt.com/yourlinespeed for more details) you will be entitled to cancel your broadband contract without paying a charge for ending it early subject to you following our instructions to resolve the problem.
You may cancel your agreement for BT Total Broadband Option 3 (using the fibre network) by contacting us at any time up until the service start date, but if you do so you will be liable to pay for any work that we have started or done to install any equipment.

from the t&c's bt bb t&c's
it seems to be a 10 day cooling off period, that apparently starts the day you order it,which i find a little odd, so not good, maybe complaining to ofcom also may be of a help ,or to bt's CEO Ian Livingston, as for them asking you if you could unscrew the faceplate from the bt master socket so you could plug the router into the TEST socket behind it, that is normal request,
As it also disconnects any internal extensions too, a way of telling if there is any issues with wiring or equipment connected to it inside your home as the master socket is the end point of bt's responsibilities as far as maintenance goes

But going on the rough rule of thumb they quote that the actual download speeds are usually 800/900 less than the sync speed, I shouldn't be at the stage where most web pages fail to load or take minutes to load should I?

Its to get at the test socket behind the plate. Total legitimate request as it'll rule out any problem with the wiring in your house.

But introduces a faulty home screwdriver into the mix

Oh I see, you mean he'd have wanted me to plug the filter into the socket inside? It's the only socket in the flat, but I might try it anyway

www.speedtester.bt.com post the results please

when i tried that this morning, I couldn't even get the speed test page to load. It probably would have loaded eventually, but I had to go to work, but will try again when I get home which won't be until about 1.30am

and as if by magic, things back to normal this morning, with sync speed and throughput faster than ever. My faith hasn't been restored though, not until i've had at least another couple of weeks of stable connection

Hi Aliturk,

I would like to take a look at your broadband for you. Please could you send me in your details using http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/4950 it would be helpful if you could also run a speed tests using www.speedtester.bt.com

Thanks

Paddy

In reply to a post by orly:

Its to get at the test socket behind the plate. Total legitimate request as it'll rule out any problem with the wiring in your house.

I had a bit of a problem with Orange over this (the socket behind the main socket - sorry if this sounds like a Xmas pantomime warning!), as I did not have one in this old house on the prairie So Orange got BT Open Reach out, and they fitted the latest (filter-built-in) Master Socket FOC! Things did improve marginally after that. However, bravely or stupidly, I'm now trying BT Bband from 12/12/2011, hoping for better treatment @ peak usage times. BTW, I've been with Orange for 3 years. Good luck!

Filled in one of those a while ago, have pm'd you the ref. no. Status is "ongoing" so I assume the line is being monitored. Speed tests back to normal @ 4.7 mb/sec

Occasionally the face plate contacts can get corroded or the socket contacts loose their springiness.

Nice and simple and removes everything that is not OR responsibility. If it then continues OR need to resolve it and normally at their cost - such things as a consumer damaged (mice, solvent, cut) cable can still be charged.